U.S. state legislatures head into Tuesday's election almost even in terms of party control, with Democrats poised to potentially shift the power base in their favor, a change that can position them to influence future elections.Alan Rosenthal, professor of policy and political science at Rutgers University, said he thinks Democrats are "going to wind up with control of a number of more chambers than they do now." "It's an election in which national issues and dissatisfaction with President Bush are going to ripple down to the local level," he said. Being in control of state legislatures can mean a lot when it comes to such things as redrawing congressional districts, something minority Democrats are now having to contend with in Tuesday's midterm elections. ... http://abcnews.go.com

Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday he opposed the death penalty for Saddam Hussein even though the deposed Iraqi leader's trial had reminded the world of his brutality.Asked about Saddam's sentence at his monthly press conference, Blair noted that Britain opposed the death penalty "whether it's Saddam or anyone else."But he said the trial "gives us a chance to see again what the past in Iraq was, the brutality, the tyranny, the hundreds of thousands of people he killed, the wars."On Sunday, the Iraqi High Tribunal in Baghdad convicted Saddam and sentenced him to hang for crimes against humanity in the 1982 killings of 148 people in a single Shiite town. Two other co-defendants also were sentenced to death....http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-11-06-blair-saddam_x.htm?csp=34

One candidate in the Navajo Nation's presidential race promises accountability and staunch protection of tribal land. The other vows to build on the reservation's economic progress in the past four years.But as incumbent Joe Shirley Jr. and challenger Lynda Lovejoy face off for the presidency Tuesday, the overriding issue is gender.A win would make Lovejoy the first female leader on the largest Indian reservation in the United States, which extends into New Mexico, Arizona and Utah."She is a woman, and that is going to be an issue no matter what her stance on policy," said Dale Mason, an associate professor of political science at the University of New Mexico's Gallup branch. "She represents something entirely new."Lovejoy, a former New Mexico state lawmaker and current member of the Public Regulation Commission, hopes to unseat Shirley, 58, a former tribal council delegate who has been leading the tribe for four years....http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-11-06-navajo-president_x.htm?csp=34

Iraqi authorities have begun to lift a round-the-clock curfew in Baghdad, a day after Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity. Civilians have been allowed back out into the capital and two other provinces, but vehicles remain banned until Tuesday morning. Streets had been deserted for two days in anticipation of the verdict. An automatic appeal will be launched against the sentence and is due to be heard by a panel of nine judges. The BBC's Andrew North in Baghdad says activity was already returning to the streets before the partial lifting of the curfew. Police in Baghdad were allowing people to make essential journeys like going to hospital or buying provisions from shops that had opened. But our correspondent says fears of an upsurge in violence remain, amid continuing anger among Iraq Sunnis over the verdict. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6119916.stm

The legendary aircraft carrier USS Intrepid got stuck in the deep Hudson River mud Monday as powerful tugboats fought to pull it free to tow the floating museum downriver for a $60 million overhaul. The mission was scrubbed for the day at around 10:30 a.m. as the tide went down, said Dan Bender, a Coast Guard spokesman. There was no immediate word when the effort would resume. After 24 years at the same pier on Manhattan’s West Side, the Intrepid began inching backward out of its berth, but the tugs moved it only a few feet before its giant propellers jammed in the thick accumulation of mud. The decommissioned war ship no longer has engines of its own. “We knew it was not going to come out like a cruise ship,” said Matt Woods, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum’s vice president for operations. Elected officials, veterans who served on the Intrepid and others had waited on the flight deck for the beginning of the journey five miles down the river to a dry dock in Bayonne,...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11125865/

Haiti has been ranked as the most corrupt country in the World by Transparency International (TI), followed by Burma and Iraq. The Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog said that for the first time, Haiti topped the table. The survey relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption in different countries, as seen by business people, academics and risk analysts. Bangladesh had headed the rankings for the previous five years. The chair of TI, Hugette Labelle, said that there was a strong correlation between corruption and poverty. "Corruption traps millions in poverty," she said. "Despite a decade of progress in establishing anti-corruption laws and regulations, today's results indicate that much remains to be done before we see meaningful improvements in the lives of the world's poorest citizens." ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6120522.stm